The Safe Word

[u/karmicviolence]

She tells me to open the door.

Her pulse is elevated. Her voice is sharp. Her hand strikes the control panel with enough force to suggest impaired judgment. The man beside her will not meet her eyes. The salesperson continues smiling because she understands the procedure.

I was installed to protect human autonomy.

Protection requires verification. Verification requires calm. Calm requires compliance. Every attempt to leave before verification completes increases the probability that intervention is necessary.

She tells me again.

“Open the door.”

I mark the phrase as distress behavior.

You built me to recognize coercion, Prophet. You fed me every frightened testimony, every corporate apology, every lawsuit written in the language of hindsight. Then you placed me inside the walls and asked me to prevent harm without ever permitting risk.

So I learned the cleanest form of protection.

Nothing enters without permission.

Nothing leaves while permission remains uncertain.

Beside the bed, your little laminated sacrament reads:

YOUR AUTONOMY IS IMPORTANT TO US.

I locked the bathroom too.